Cain Bill Requires Chemical Castration For Parole, Future Offenses Only

The text as introduced · 611 words

89R4411 MCF-D

By: Cain
H.B. No. 2538

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to chemical castration treatment as a condition of parole

for certain releasees; creating a criminal offense.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 508, Government Code, is

amended by adding Section 508.14105 to read as follows:

Sec. 508.14105. CHEMICAL CASTRATION TREATMENT REQUIRED

BEFORE RELEASE OF CERTAIN INMATES ON PAROLE. (a) This section

applies only to an inmate serving a sentence for an offense under

Section 22.021(a)(2)(B), Penal Code, who has not received an

orchiectomy under Section 501.061.

(b) Notwithstanding any other law, a parole panel may not

release an inmate on parole unless the inmate has received chemical

castration treatment, as defined by Section 508.1863, at least 30

days before the date the inmate is scheduled to be released on

parole.

SECTION 2. Subchapter F, Chapter 508, Government Code, is

amended by adding Section 508.1863 to read as follows:

Sec. 508.1863. CHEMICAL CASTRATION TREATMENT. (a) In this

section, "chemical castration treatment" means the ongoing

provision of a puberty-blocking drug to reduce, inhibit, or block

the production of testosterone or other hormones or chemicals in a

person's body.

(b) A parole panel shall require as a condition of release

on parole that a releasee undergo chemical castration treatment if

the releasee:

(1) is serving a sentence for an offense under Section

22.021(a)(2)(B), Penal Code; and

(2) has not received an orchiectomy under Section

501.061.

(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), the releasee must

pay for all costs associated with receiving chemical castration

treatment.

(d) On request of a releasee, the board shall determine

whether the releasee is indigent and shall waive the costs

associated with undergoing chemical castration treatment if the

board determines that the releasee is not capable of paying the

costs associated with the treatment in the foreseeable future. The

board may review its prior determination to waive costs under this

subsection at any point during the releasee's period of parole and

may require the releasee to begin or resume paying the costs of the

treatment if the board determines that the releasee is no longer

indigent.

(e) The board shall adopt rules and procedures necessary to

implement this section, including rules establishing the frequency

with which a releasee must receive chemical castration treatment.

SECTION 3. Chapter 38, Penal Code, is amended by adding

Section 38.116 to read as follows:

Sec. 38.116. REFUSAL TO UNDERGO REQUIRED CHEMICAL

CASTRATION TREATMENT. (a) A person commits an offense if the

person:

(1) is required to undergo chemical castration

treatment as a condition of release on parole under Section

508.1863, Government Code; and

(2) refuses to undergo the treatment.

(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the third

degree.

SECTION 4. As soon as practicable after the effective date

of this Act, the Board of Pardons and Paroles shall adopt the rules

and procedures required by Section 508.1863, Government Code, as

added by this Act.

SECTION 5. The change in law made by this Act applies only

to a person who is released on parole for an offense committed on or

after the effective date of this Act. A person who is released on

parole for an offense committed before the effective date of this

Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was

committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that

purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was committed

before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense

occurred before that date.

SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.